Notes, Notings, and Common Refrains

"Oh, the charge? He's being abusive and insulting, and he won't let me get any work done."

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I'm trying to figure out what my Opening Image^ is, and distill the entire nature of reality of the "normal world" before my story takes off, and Things Change Forever (for my protagonist), in the first 10% of my story.

In my head, the metaphor for the Cure Imperative of our culture is his doctors, therapists, and nurses refusing to even acknowledge the reality of his wings, and repeating the mantra that he'll be free when he can walk. But if I start my story in his childhood, I won't have enough room to tell the story of who he becomes as an adult.

There's got to be a way to do it, but all day, my Inner Critic has been "shouting":

*IT WON'T WORK, AND YOU DON'T KNOW A THING ABOUT WRITING, AND YOU HAVE TO START YOUR IDEA ALL OVER, FROM SCRATCH! (And you're lazy, and good-for-nothing, and will die young[ish] and alone)*

I'd like to stab the bastard through the heart with a silver quill pen. I would.

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*sigh*

I guess this is what you get when you're deeply emotionally invested in your story.


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^(I'm using the "Hollywood Plot" outline guide provided by Script Frenzy, even though I've decided on the graphic novel format -- I figure the plot structure is basically the same, since they're both primarily visual media).